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"MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT", November 6th-7th, 2014, BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
PERCEPTIONS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A CAREER PATH
Ana-Maria GRIGORE1 Sorin-George TOMA2
ABSTRACT
Since the end of the World War II, the large corporation has become a key social institution and a
fundamental economic organization for the capitalist system. For a long period of time, the future
for many people around the world laid within a multinational or transnational corporation. The
late 1960s and the early 1970s paved the way for a new type of economy, the “entrepreneurial
economy”. As the beginning of the 1990s has provided huge opportunities at a global scale,
individuals understood the value of entrepreneurship in the business world. Entrepreneurship has
increasingly become an important vocation and option for many people worldwide. The
possibilities in entrepreneurship are endless. Entrepreneurial careers transcend job titles,
organizations or industries. This is why entrepreneurship as a career path constitutes an exciting
topic for many researchers all over the world. The aims of our research are to present, analyse and
interpret the results of a survey regarding the perceptions about self-employment in Romania in
2013. The research method was based on the analysis of the results offered by the Amway Global
Entrepreneurship Report (2013) and the comparative analysis with other studies on the same topic.
A set of three hypotheses was validated. The majority of the Romanian respondents seem to have a
positive attitude towards entrepreneurship. Also, the reasons to start a business are very different
and the fear of failure represents a major threat for many respondents. Our paper contributes to a
better understanding of the entrepreneurship perceptions of Romanian people.
KEYWORDS: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs, career, Romania, European Union
JEL CLASSIFICATION: M21, Z18
1. INTRODUCTION
The record of the last century clearly demonstrated that the evolution of human society was
influenced by a multitude of factors. Significant social, economic, technological, political and
environmental changes led to a major transformation of our lives. As a key driving force of today’s
society, entrepreneurship is considered not only an important constituent in the organization of
modern economies and an engine of economic progress, but also a solution in order to face social
challenges such as unemployment and poverty. As Tamvada (2010) stated, “self-employed are more
likely to escape poverty, as are salaried employees and entrepreneurs who are employers”.
The global financial and economic crisis has heightened “interest in entrepreneurship as an essential
element to foster economic recovery and employment growth” (Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD), 2014). Entrepreneurship stimulates economic growth and
1 University of Bucharest, Romania, anagrig27@gmail.com 2 University of Bucharest, Romania, tomagsorin62@yahoo.com
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drives job creation (Baumol, 1996). Consequently, entrepreneurship has increasingly become an
important vocation and option for many people all over the world.
Starting from these premises, one central question arises: Does entrepreneurship represent an
important career path? On the one hand, the possibilities in entrepreneurship are endless. On the
other hand, entrepreneurial careers transcend job titles, organizations or industries.
In order to address this subject, our paper seeks to provide a better understanding of the opinions
about entrepreneurship in a former communist country from Eastern Europe. The aims of our
research are to present, analyse and interpret the results of a survey regarding the perceptions about
self-employment in Romania in 2013. The paper is structured as follows. The relationship between
entrepreneurship and economy, the perceptions of Romanians about entrepreneurship and the
research hypotheses are presented in the second chapter. The third chapter is dealing with the
research methodology and results. The paper ends with discussion and conclusions.
2. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION AND HYPOTHESES
Since the end of the World War II, corporations have become key social institutions and
fundamental economic organizations for the capitalist system. As Drucker (1946) pointed out, “in
an industrial society in which the large corporation is the representative social institution, it is
equally essential that the corporation be organized in such a way as to be able itself to function and
to survive as an institution, as to enable society to realize its basic promises and beliefs, and as to
enable society to function and to survive”. An increasing role of large corporations in the economy
was emphasized by several authors such as Solow (1956) and Caves (1982). That is why the future
for many people around the world laid within a multinational or transnational corporation for a long
period of time. It was the source of well-paying jobs and security.
Consequently, the so-called “managed economy” was centered on the large corporation. The
capitalist economy no longer functioned according to the concept of invisible hand launched by
Adam Smith in the late 1700s, but was “increasingly administered by corporate executives and
government officials” (Reagan, 1963).
However, the late 1960s and the early 1970s paved the way for a new type of economy, the
“entrepreneurial economy”. Numerous famous entrepreneurs (e.g., B. Gates, S. Jobs) and would-be
entrepreneurs appeared in the subsequent decades all over the world, but especially in the United
States of America (USA). As the end of the Cold War has provided huge opportunities at a global
scale, individuals understood the value of entrepreneurship in the business world. The
entrepreneurial economy is rooted in “entirely different values, skills, and priorities than its
precursor, the managed economy” (Audretsch, 2007). In this respect, “the managerial model
articulates economic growth around mass production, specialization, certainty, predictability and
homogeneity, allowing the full play of economies of scale” whereas “the model of entrepreneurial
economy articulates economic growth around a variety of needs, novelty, turbulence, innovations
and functioning in networks, allowing the full play of entrepreneurial flexibility” (Bonnet et al.,
2012). Today’s economy contains a mixture of elements from both types (Table 1).
According to the OECD-Eurostat Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme (EIP), entrepreneurship
is defined as “the phenomenon associated with entrepreneurial activity, which is the enterprising
human action in pursuit of the generation of value, through the creation or expansion of economic
activity, by identifying and exploiting new products, processes or markets” (OECD, 2012). Shane &
Venkataraman (2000) considered entrepreneurship as the process by which “opportunities to create
future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited.”
It is undoubtedly that entrepreneurship manifests itself throughout the global economy in various
forms and differs across time and locations. However, the entrepreneurial economy highlights “the
interplay between the entrepreneur, the entrepreneurial firm and the society” (Welter et al., 2013)
and has already profound effects that go beyond economic life. As Schramm (2008) revealed, “the
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expansion of entrepreneurship is linked to the development of freedoms”. There is no surprise that
nowadays entrepreneurship has become an attractive option for different people around the world.
In recent years, several studies and reports (Ernst & Young, 2014; OECD, 2014; European
Commission (EC), 2012) has shown the positive role entrepreneurship plays not only for economy,
but for the whole society. Entrepreneurship is commonly associated with job creation,
entrepreneurial culture, business venture, innovation, new products and/or services, poverty
reduction, well-being or economic development (Amoros et al., 2013; ILO & UNESCO, 2006).
States and governments all over the world, policy makers, and the general public are increasingly
aware of the multiple benefits entrepreneurship brings to society (Nicolescu & Nicolescu, 2013;
Mazzucato, 2011). In this respect, the EC (2013) adopted a so-called Entrepreneurship 2020 Action
Plan to create a supportive framework for entrepreneurship policy. One of its goals is to reigniting
the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe.
Table 1. The managed economy versus the entrepreneurial economy
The managed economy The entrepreneurial economy
The model is a
political, social, and
economic response to
an economy:
dictated by the forces of large scale
production, reflecting the
predominance of the production
factors of capital and labour
increasingly dominated by
knowledge as a production factor
combined with entrepreneurship
capital
The model focuses on
the links between:
stability, specialization,
homogeneity, scale, certainty, and
predictability on the one hand and
economic growth on the other hand
flexibility, turbulence, diversity,
novelty, innovation, linkages, and
clustering on the one hand and
economic growth on the other
hand
The central theme exploitation exploration
The main
characteristic continuity change
Source: adapted from Thurik (2008, p. 4-11)
While various factors influence entrepreneurship, cultural aspects need to be taken into account. In
general, Europeans are reluctant to take up opportunities for self-employment and entrepreneurship.
Therefore, cultural support through education and promotional campaigns should stimulate the
amount of entrepreneurial activity in the European Union (EU). Traditionally, formal education in
Europe has not been conducive to entrepreneurship. However, as attitudes and cultural references
take shape at an early age, the educational systems can greatly contribute to successfully addressing
the entrepreneurial challenge within the EU. Consequently, the EC has focused on policy measures
to give greater attention to entrepreneurship in education from primary school to university. The EC
also wants to promote entrepreneurship as 'the new cool’, as an attractive career option, and to
celebrate more well-known entrepreneurs as role models.
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As “our society has become obsessed with success, self-improvement and celebrity…everyone is
encouraged to start a business” (Robson, 2010). This is why entrepreneurship as a career choice has
represented one of the most debated subjects in the literature since the early 2000s (Segal et al.,
2005; Douglas & Shepherd, 2002; Henderson & Robertson, 2000).
All these considerations lead us to formulate the following three research hypotheses:
H1. There is a positive perception about entrepreneurship in Romania.
H2. Perceptions about self-employment are not related to gender and community.
H3. The reasons to start a business are not related to gender in Romania.
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
To test the above mentioned three hypotheses, we have started our research from the study carried
out by Amway GmbH, Puchheim, at surveying the Romanian population about entrepreneurship.
Our research method was based on the analysis of the results offered by the Amway Global
Entrepreneurship Report (2013) and the comparative analysis with other studies on the same topic.
Also, we have interpreted the findings and emphasized the specificity of entrepreneurship in
Romania.
The survey has been conducted last year by questioning a sample of 1,071 Romanian respondents.
The sample was considered to be representative for the Romanian population due to the fact that the
respondents were from all types of working status (full-time and part-time, self-employed, not
working, unemployed), age groups (15-19 years, 20-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, 50-59
years, 60-69 years, over 70 years), gender (male, female), communities (rural, urban) and
development regions (Ardeal, Banat-Crisana-Maramures, Muntenia, Oltenia, Dobrogea, Moldova,
Bucharest). The period of fieldwork lasted from 28 March to 19 April 2013. The questionnaire was
fully structured.
70 % of the respondents have a positive perception about entrepreneurship in Romania and only
16.90 % a negative one (Fig. 1). But, this positive attitude towards entrepreneurship is only at a
declarative level. The Romanian society and its mentality still suffer the effect of the strong anti-
entrepreneurial communist propaganda. The entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial spirit were the
number one public enemy because they meant freedom and choice, and action of the individual,
something unthinkable and even poisonous for the system – that left long term sequels, because of
its populist nature. On the other hand, one cannot speak in Romania about a solid entrepreneurial
culture, as it is too early for that. It takes time, probably several decades.
Figure 1. Overall perceptions about entrepreneurship in Romania
Source: made by authors
Positive, 70.00%
Negative, 16.90%
Don't know / No answer 13,10%
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Media channels had their negative contribution concerning the mass perception of
entrepreneurship. The “so-called” entrepreneurs enriched overnight through highly disputable
meanings (especially politically backed-up) made front-page almost exclusively. What was
positively done was the insertion in the high schools and universities curriculum of some
Entrepreneurial-connected disciplines; that has stirred probably the interest of the new generation
in this alternative of the career spectrum. Moreover, with the support of some structural funds on
the European Programs frame, a considerable number of projects aimed at the promotion of
entrepreneurship and the development of competence in this area, and even at the stimulation of
entrepreneurial venture and business incubators.
Although the definition of the term “entrepreneur” provides no mention to the gender, it does not
come as a surprise that most entrepreneurs are men in Romania. Since women have a tendency to
take up the raising and education of children as well as looking after the house, many of them do
not have enough time to start a business. There is also a tendency to evaluate masculine traits as
being more appropriate for business than feminine ones. The question that still remains
unanswered is why are there so few women leaders? The answer to this question may be found in
the perspective of historical and structural hindrances.
If we take into account the cultural factors which contrbute to the women’s orientation towards
the “domestic affairs”, we have to admit the fact that the rather poor involvement of women in
entrepreneurship is aggravated by the burden (usually freely accepted) of the responsibilities they
have within the family. There are still many women who place family before their business career
in our country. The underdevelopment of several social servicies – such as childcare and
education, cleaning and catering, in which families could be consumers but also providers – leads
both to a low purchasing power and to cultural barriers. A traditional society risks being
paralyzed by so-called values, according to which the family needs must be mainly satisfied
within the household and with the family’s means. Even in those families where the purchasing
power would theoretically allow many of the family’s needs being satisfied on the free market,
controversies regarding the fact that such services are of low quality, or that it is not “proper” are
likely to lead to a waste of women’s time and to discourage them in their attempt of introducing a
more modern “management” even in their own household. Thus, a family environment without
support and acceptance conducts to a result in which women don’t get sufficient security
guarantees regarding the alternatives for the evolution of their professional career.
Leading a business of one’s own means facing daily not only the risk of financial failure, but also
the fatigue and stress associated with the efforts of transforming one’s business into a profitable
enterprise. Also, a woman who is trying to ensure the success of her own business will most
likely work outside of her household more hours than another woman, who is just employed and
has a fixed salary. In this sense, the price of success in the professional domain (one’s own
business) can be the failure in the personal domain (family life).
The results of the survey show that, at least at declarative level, the perceptions of
entrepreneurship is positive to a resonably high percentage, in both case of Romanian men and
women (Figures 2 and 3).
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Figure 2. Male perceptions towards self-employment in Romania
Source: made by authors
Figure 3. Female perceptions towards self-employment in Romania
Source: made by authors
Also, the results of the survey reveal that there is a certain difference in the perception of and
attitude regarding entrepreneurship in the urban and rural communities (Figures 4 and 5). The start
of a new business is related to opportunities and markets, but also to entrepreneurial spirit and
potential. All these considerations have led to the clear hegemony the capital city holds in this
regard. From the very beginning of the emergence of the market economy in Romania, Bucharest
(and later on, the peri-urban area) has provided optimal conditions for the development of
entrepreneurship: economical ones, demographic ones and social ones. Moreover, the capital also
provided and still provides the most appropriate conditions: spaces, infrastructure, market,
workforce. These conditions can also be found in other important urban areas of the country as Cluj,
Timisoara, Sibiu, Brasov, Constanta or Iasi. And it is true that the entrepreneurial initiatives have
been distributed in the areas with a high pre-existing economic density. They acted, however, as a
strong catalyst for other economic activies, giving an even greater boost to those economic areas.
Positive, 71.30%
Negative, 16.20%
Don't know / No answer
12,50%
Positive, 68.70%
Negative, 17.50%
Don't know / No answer
13,80%
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Figure 4. Attitudes towards self-employment in the Romanian rural communities
Source: made by authors
Figure 5. Attitudes towards self-employment in the Romanian urban communities
Source: made by authors
Still, in the near future, it is only to be expected that there will be a natural dilution of the local
density, one caused by the following main factors:
- economic factors which foster the local dispersion: cost control, freeing spaces in peripheral,
but accessible places, at resonable acquisition costs or with symbolic rent rates, the inheritance
of an acceptable infrastructure (existing utilities, acceptable quality of useful space). There is
yet another category of economic factors, that is those that do not foster the local dispersion –
first and foremost the distance to the specific market.
- demographic factors can be either favoring or disfavoring, depending on the field of activity.
The productive activities are favored by the centrifugal tendency (in the pre-urban or rural
areas, there is a certain abundence of labour at lower costs). For activities that require a high
level of workforce qualification, however, distance from the great cities brings about
supplementary costs (e.g., the qualified staff has to be stimulated to work in a more “exotic”
location).
Positive, 66.70%
Negative, 17.80%
Don't know / No
answer 15,50%
Positive, 72.50%
Negative, 16.10%
Don't know / No answer
11,40%
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- social factors, such as the local culture and mentality, the poverty level or the political factors
(e.g., the involvement of the local authorities).
Nowadays, an important factor regarding the territorial dispersion is the emergence of structural
funds which make use of strong levers in stimulating the establishment or relocation of activities in
areas out of cities (financial orientation depending on the level of development of the targeted areas,
on the type of activity, projecting volumes of activities that are considered adequate).
It is interesting to emphasize that, experimenting with the entrepreneurial career, some of the
respondents (more than 15%) are not so sure today as they were at the beginning with regard to
their initial option (Figure 6). This is only natural, if we think about the difficult period that the
Romanian economy has been through in the last five years, a period in which the entrepreneurs and
the entrepreneurship have not been supported in any way, have often faced financial blockage and
have systematically confronted themselves with the banks’ reluctance to grant loans. Under such
circumstances, the annual rate of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) mortality was of
approximately 20% anually, an aspect that influenced in a negative way those left “alive”.
Figure 6. Romanian entrepreneurs' attitude towards self-employment
Source: made by authors
There are some differences between Romanian men and women with regard to the reasons for
entering into business (Figure 7). Just as it is well-known that there are such differences in choosing
the field of activity and the type of business. For instance, while the representatives of the male
gender do business in all areas of industry, women focus on the retail and service sector. It is well-
known that men prefer to deal with the so-called “hard” problems and business, instead of the “soft”
ones, which have to do with education, healthcare, social policies, environment, which tend to be
reserved par excellence to women, as being related more to their dominant concerns.
Positive, 84.80%
Negative, 3.70%
Don't know / No answer
11,50%
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Figure 7. Romanian male and female reasons to start their own business (multiple answers)
Source: made by authors
As far as women are concerned, in most cases the business size is intentionally kept small in orderv
to have time for the household activities. For this very reason, the headquarters for their business is
most often their own home. What is more, one in five women are prompted to go into
entrepreneurship by unemployment, in comparison with only one in fifteen men.
For many people, self-employment reflects the previous conditions and experiences – human and
social capital (training and networks) – and, also, the available sums of money which come from
savings – the financial capital. It is clear that women have the above mentioned resources to a lesser
degree (one of the reasons being the existence of the so-called “glass ceiling” for career promotion).
This affects both the start-up amplitude and the choice for the field of the business.
Finally, the notion of performance is perceived differently by women than by men. Women appear
to be more prudent, to have risk aversion, prefering to take small and controlled steps. Success for
them means independence rather than the number of employees and the turnover.
Concerning the Romanian entrepreneurs` reasons to start their own business – they confirmed what
we already observed. The main drive of a Romanian opened to the idea to try a venture is to round-
up his rather insufficient revenues (Figure 8). This is mainly an indicator of the low average of the
Male Female
None of the above 17,30% 20,30%
Return to job market, alternativeto unemployment
10,30% 10,70%
Independence from an employer,being my own boss
39,60% 34,10%
Self-fulfilment, posibility to realizeown ideas
22,50% 22,90%
Second income prospects 53,80% 52,40%
Better compatibility of family,leisure time and career
20,00% 18,20%
0,00%
20,00%
40,00%
60,00%
80,00%
100,00%
120,00%
140,00%
160,00%
180,00%
Male and female reasons to start their own business
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income in Romania. We notice that the motivations that lead the authentic entrepreneurs – the need
of independence, of freedom to act, to find fulfillment and the perspective to follow one`s dreams
and ambitions are less representative for the Romanian entrepreneurial potential.
Figure 8. Romanian entrepreneurs’reasons to start their own business (multiple answers)
Source: made by authors
The data show also that the lack of (starting) capital constitutes a major obstacle that stands against
starting a venture in our country. It is almost unconceivable that banks will approve nowadays a
loan to a new comer, no matter the business plan and the guarantees – the banks have now a lot of
real-estate on their hands and they are not happy about it. On the other hand, the private
accumulation is poor, being obtained with considerable individual effort and therefore, one is
reluctant to venture it.
Most of the Romanian men and women consider that the Romanian society is rather/very
entrepreneurship-unfriendly and only a relative low proportion of them state that it is very/rather
entrepreneurship-friendly (Figure 9). Also, 62% of the Romanian entrepreneurs consider that the
Romanian society is rather/very entrepreneurship-unfriendly (Figure 10).
Reasons
None of the above 14,50%
Return to job market, alternativeto unemployment
13,10%
Independence from an employer,being my own boss
57,20%
Self-fulfilment, posibility to realizeown ideas
29,40%
Second income prospects 53,90%
Better compatibility of family,leisure time and career
30,00%
0,00%
50,00%
100,00%
150,00%
200,00%
250,00%
Entrepreneurs' reasons to start their own business
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Figure 9. Male and female perceptions about entrepreneurial society in Romania
Source: made by authors
Figure 10. Romanian entrepreneurs' perceptions about the Romanian entrepreneurial society
Source: made by authors
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
The findings of our research validated the three hypotheses. Firstly, there is a positive perception
about entrepreneurship in Romania. The majority of the Romanian respondents (70 %) have a
positive perception about entrepreneurship. Secondly, male and female perceptions about self-
employment are pretty the same. Also, the attitudes towards self-employment in the Romanian rural
and urban communities are similar. It means that perceptions about self-employment are not related
to gender and community. Thirdly, there are not significant differences between Romanian male
and female regarding their reasons to start their own business.
Male Female
Don't know/not answer 27,10% 31,80%
Rather/very entrepreneurship-unfriendly Romanian society
58,40% 57,00%
Very/rather entrepreneurship-friendly Romanian society
14,50% 11,20%
0,00%
20,00%
40,00%
60,00%
80,00%
100,00%
120,00%
Very/rather entrepreneurshi
p-friendly Romanian
society 20,40%
Rather/very entrepreneurshi
p-unfriendly Romanian
society 62,00%
Don't know / No answer 17,60%
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Today, entrepreneurship represents a global phenomenon that has many different positive outcomes for
the human society. They are related to both economic and social issues. Our paper underlines some of the defining perceptions of entrepreneurship as a career path for
Romanian people. The results of our analysis demonstrate that the majority of the Romanian
respondents seem to have a positive perception towards entrepreneurship (Nicolae & Ion, 2012).
Also, their reasons to start a business are very different, but more money and independence are key
issues (Shane et al., 2003; Carter et al., 2003; Alstete, 2002). On the other hand, the fear of failure
represents a major threat for many of them (Hayton et al., 2013). The Romanian business
environment is categorically unfriendly and the actual data show a 20-25% yearly mortality rate of
the SME`s. One of the main causes is that all the governments since 1990 have lacked any
understanding and vision on the importance of promoting entrepreneurship by all means. The
political class as a whole was indifferent – if not hostile – to the phenomena, understandably so
because politicians are only the result and the expression of society as a whole. In our opinion, this
is a very negative situation and any initiative to improve it is more than welcome.
Therefore, a more favorable societal climate for entrepreneurship needs to be created in Romania
not only by changing the mindset towards entrepreneurship, but also improving the skills of the
people and removing obstacles to the start-up creation, transfer, and growth of businesses as
Nicolescu & Nicolescu (2013) have already shown. Also, the lack of financial resources and finance
availability is another main barrier for Romanian potential entrepreneurs as the results of the survey
conducted by Ernst & Young has pointed out (2014).
In essence, entrepreneurship as a career path constitutes an exciting worldwide topic for many
researchers. Our paper contributes to a better understanding of the entrepreneurship perceptions of
Romanian people and may be a starting point for future researches on the same subject.
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